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Firefighters battle four-alarm blaze at Stony Brook Reservation

A four-alarm brush fire in the Stony Brook Reservation in West Roxbury burned several acres Monday morning, Boston fire officials said.

“One of the big problems is the fire gets underneath the brush and inside tree trunks, which makes it hard to extinguish,” said Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald.

Firefighters responded to the blaze near Washington Street about 6:20 a.m., the third day in a row a brush fire has popped up in the area, MacDonald said.

Firefighters dragged hundreds of feet of hose from the nearest fire hydrant through the woods to extinguish the blaze.

Eighty firefighters responded to the park, along with fire crews from the Department of Conservation and Recreation, MacDonald said.

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No injuries were reported.

The exceptionally dry weather this month has heightened the chances for brush fires, MacDonald said. Boston has received 0.53 inches of rain in October as of Sunday. The average rainfall for the month is 3.44 inches.

“We are almost down 3 inches. That is pretty significant,” said Charlie Foley, a National Weather Service meteorologist. “We do need the rain.”

MacDonald said a number of things can start a brush fire after prolonged periods without rain.

“It could have been a discarded cigarette. It could be any number of things,” MacDonald said. “It’s hard to pinpoint.”


Jasper Craven can be reached at jasper.craven@globe.com or on Twitter @Jasper_Craven.